


Changes - A Harry Potter fan fiction

by keeleyc05



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, F/F, F/M, Fanfiction, M/M, My First Fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29672901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keeleyc05/pseuds/keeleyc05
Summary: Two purebloods, a muggleborn, a half blood and a kid who doesn't even know his blood status. It was an odd group, but they made it work. However, how will they handle heartbreak, death of loved ones and a crazed dark wizard on the rise?Set at the start of Prisoner of Azkaban - Deathly HallowsThemes of strong language, major character death, alcohol and drug consumptionDISCLAIMER: Credit to J.K. Rowling for all characters featured in the Harry Potter series.





	Changes - A Harry Potter fan fiction

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Alcohol and drug consumption mentioned, as well as abuse.

_Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, there is time to kill today - Time by Pink Floyd_

_31st of August 1993_

River hated the summer. It made her miss school, her friends and made her hate her home life even more. The only piece of school she had with her at the summer was her wand and Harry Potter.

Harry lived a few streets down, River and him were close as children, going to the same primary school made them best friends. However, when they ran into eachother, with their new friends, at Hogwarts. They sort of kissed that close bond good bye, he was avoiding Voldemort and River was avoiding someone else.

Cedric Diggory. He was a Hufflepuff from two years above, he was nice enough. Since the start of her second year, he had made it his mission to just get her on one date, luckily she could not go to Hogsmeade. That would change this year, with her mothers permission for her daughter to go to the magic town at the weekends.

River got out of bed, it must have been at least 9am. Not forgetting to grab her paper for school, River tiptoed down the stairs and into the living room. Her mother, Debbie Bennett, always stayed in the living room. She would come home from a night out, normally with some random man, and pass out on the sofa.

The man would leave early hours in the morning, after getting what he had wanted. This time, Debbie wasn't alone on the sofa, Steve was sat next to where her head lay.

Steve had been the only one of Debbie's boyfriends who actually stuck around, only for a place to live and someone to take his anger out on. River despised him, her mother was bad with alcohol before him, but, Steve's abuse and cheating made Debbie drink like she would never need to again.

'Alright, River?' Steve said as he licked the rizla of his joint, the smell of weed clung to him no matter how much he washed.

'When did she go to sleep?' River motioned her head to her mother, she was really beautiful, until she opened her mouth, then you could see her stained, chipped teeth from the years of alcohol and drug abuse.

Steve checked his rip-off rolex, 'Maybe six-ish.'

Steve lit his joint and the smell immediately filled the small living room.

'How long are you sticking around for this time?' River asked, slyly covering her nose with her mothers dressing gown.

'Until Jaz lets me move back in.'

Jaz also lived on the council estate, compared to the other women who lived in the area Jaz surprisingly seemed like she had it all figured out. Then, like a bad infection, Steve wooed her with his supposed charm.

'Mhm, can you smoke that outside please? I don't want the kids' new school clothes to stink.'

Steve scoffed and moved outside, begrudgingly. River say down where Steve had just sat, lifting her mothers head up and placing it on her lap. Debbie looked ill, not her normal hungover-ill, like actually ill.

'Mum?' River shook her mother shoulder as gently as she could, 'Mum?' 

'Mhm?' Debbie mused.

'Could you sign a letter for me, please? It's for school.'

'Put it on the coffee table, I'll sign it after I've been shops. Wake the kids up for breakfast, please.' Debbie rubbed her eyes and looked around the living room,

'What a shit hole.' Debbie muttered to herself. River made her siblings, Jimmy, Annie and Katie - breakfast. Only frosted flakes.

'What time is dad picking us up?' Annie asked, moving the cereal with her spoon.

'At eleven, I think.' Jimmy perked up, Jimmy was the second oldest. He was only a year younger than River.

'Yeah, is your stuff all packed?'

River's younger siblings nodded in reply, placing their bowls in the sink and running upstairs to get dressed. They always got excited when their dad, Elijah, was due to pick them up.

Elijah Jones was a slim man, probably from all the drugs he had abused since his teen years, he swore he was clean now. Even got himself a job driving lorries for Sainsbury's. Debbie and Elijah split up not long after Katie was born, Elijah wanted to get clean and Debbie couldn't.

'I still have a good few years before getting clean.' Debbie reasoned, it had been a good few years since.

A couple of hours had passed, River was interrupted packing her trunk by the front door knocking, she heard her mother answer.

'Debs, are they here?' River heard the muffled voice of her father.

'Mhm, upstairs.' Debbie had been cold with Elijah since he left, they barely spoke.

In 1989, Elijah threatened to take Debbie to court for full custody of the kids. Debbie had stopped him from seeing them when he brought his new girlfriend, Yvonne, home to meet them.

Knowing Elijah would get custody right away, due to her substance abuse, Debbie agreed he could see the children again.

River always wondered why her Mum was so upset that her father had brought a woman home, maybe she wasn't over him. Maybe she never would be.

River dragged her trunk down the stairs, followed by her siblings, and noticed her father and Steve in some sort of stare down.

'Jaz kicked you out then?' Elijah crossed his arms across his chest. Now River was actually looking at him, he had put on some weight. His body weight fit his clothes properly, his jeans no longer pulling down against his belt.

Steve scoffed and walked back into the cold living room, probably to roll another joint.

'Did you have to?' Debbie asked, she seemed nervous now. When Elijah crossed Steve, Debbie always got the backlash. Normally, River was there to stand in the way before he could leave her mother with physical bruises.

'I'm sorry, Debs.' River's father had now noticed that all four of them were stood on the stairs, watching the scene unfold. 'Come here, you lot.'

He was good at that, changing the subject to something more positive. Or maybe, he was just really happy to see his children. They didn't care, Annie and Katie ran to their father and didn't let go.

River and Jimmy looked at their mother, a look that asked if she was okay, of course she nodded. Swallowing that lump in her throat that was bound to be forming.

'Say goodbye to your mum.'

Debbie held her kids, seemingly a little longer than usual, just so her upcoming fight with Steve had to wait a little longer too.

They all piled into Elijah's car, River didn't really care about cars to tell you what make it was, just that it was a horrid green that looked even worse when the sun hit it. The interiors of the car were not much better, plastic bottles basically covered the floor and the cracked beige leather felt horrid against River's skin.

'You look well.' Elijah spoke over the sound of the Rolling Stones.

'You do too, happy.'

The ride was mostly silent after that, except for Elijah asking what time River needed to be at the station for and Annie moaning about how long the car ride would be.

River's father had moved since the last time they visited, he used to live in a small flat where there was no space for the kids to sleep over. Now, he lived in a decent sized house, must have been with the money he got from his job.

'Welcome home.' Elijah smiled, he seemed really proud of the house. In all honesty, it looked a lot better then River's house.

'It's nice, dad.' Jimmy reassured.

They all got comfy around the television and began to watch 'The Goonies', it was Katie's favourite film. Instead, River started reading ahead for the school year, not for Care of Magical Creatures though, that book would have ripped her head off.

River spent the rest of the afternoon hoping that this school year would be different, normal. However, when you attend a magic school with the boy who lived, that's not quite how it works.


End file.
